Hubby jets off on a solo vacay, too impatient to wait for his wife. A week later, he’s back from the Bahamas and finds this…

We’ve been together for five years, and now I just don’t know what to do. Dylan nodded sympathetically. Go ahead and get some rest, Janice.

We’ll figure something out together. Dylan shook his head again and turned back to the computer screen. Exhausted, Janice decided to stretch out on the couch.

She was awoken by the sound of her alarm clock the next morning. As she walked into the living room, she realized Dylan was gone. He had left a note on the side table.

Thank you. Till we meet again. Suddenly, the house felt too quiet.

Janice was hit by a wave of unexpected loneliness. It was as if she had lost something precious. She shuffled into the kitchen to make herself a coffee.

The subsequent two weeks passed in a blur. Janice threw herself into her work, staying late into the night just so she could return home exhausted and fall straight to sleep. Three days after Sean departed, Janice mustered all her courage and started the divorce process.

Methodically, she packed up all his belongings, including the rope Dylan had worn after his shower. Now, all she needed to do was deliver the divorce papers, return his possessions, and erase him from her life. She changed the house locks too, just for good measure.

This house was her sanctuary, a place that she had inherited from her parents. It was the one thing that was unquestionably hers. And yet, she felt a creeping unease that she might have to battle to keep it.

Oddly enough, she found her thoughts strained to Dylan more than to Sean. Dylan, who had appeared in her life as a homeless stranger, only to reveal himself as a completely different person. Janice had expected to be devastated by her husband’s betrayal, but her heart remained quiet.

Instead, she felt a sense of relief. At least she was no longer living in ignorance, fooled by a man she thought she knew. It often happens that everyone else knows about the betrayal, and wives are the last to find out.

It can make them appear foolish in the eyes of others. Janice’s mood only improved with her newfound freedom. She was already envisioning herself preparing a salad and watching a romantic film, enjoying a quiet evening at home.

One evening after work, her tranquil days were interrupted. As she was approaching the house, she saw Sean pacing near the house’s entrance, likely cold from the chill. She recalled having blocked his number on her phone, and felt a small burst of joy that he hadn’t been able to disrupt her day earlier.

Janice faced him calmly, a slight smile gracing her lips as she spoke. Hand over the keys now, and you go for a three-hour walk in the cold. See how you like it.

Janice calmly searched through her bag, causing Sean to smirk in satisfaction. She realized with a jolt how accustomed she had become to his bullying tactics, and how often she had let it pass in the past. However, instead of keys, she produced a document…